Sampling apparatus



J. M. LILLIGREN SAMPLING APPARATUS July 16, 1929.

Filed March '7. 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 16, 1929. J, LlLLlGREN 1,721,126

SAMPLING APPARATUS 1 Filed March 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 J M- Lz'zzzl dren- July 16, 1929. J, LlLLlGREN 1,721,126

SAMPLING APPARATUS Filed March 7, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Jul 16, 1929. J, M, LILUGREN 1,721,126

SAMPLING APPARATUS Filed March 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented July 1 6, 19 2 9.

UNITED STATES F T -mower.

' 'iroimmnm MQLILLIGREN, or oxnAHoMA.

SAMPLING APPARATUS.

Application filed March 7,

This invention has for its object the provision of an automatic appa'ratuswhereby at predetermined intervals a sample quantity of the material brought from an oil or gas well will be diverted into a suitable receptacle so that the operators may be enabled to determine the value and nature of.

the successive strata encountered in the drilling operation. The invention provides means whereby the drilling operation will v feed'a series of containers or receptacles step by step to a delivery position and automati-v la-rly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings: 1

- Figure 1 is an elevation somewhat conven tional in character of a well drilling apparatus having my sampling mechanism connected therewith;

Fig. 2is arr-enlarged sectional elevation of the sampling apparatus;

Fig. 3 isa view, partly in plan and partly in horizontal section, on the line 33 of ga Fig. 4 is a view in elevation and partly in section of the parts shown in Fig. 2 as viewed from the left end of the figure;

Fig. 5 is an-enlarged longitudinal section through the adjacent ends of the launder and the parts cooperating therewith;

Fig. dis a detail perspective view of the: means for rocking the deflecting plate, and

Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail View of the trip'lever; N

In the drawings, the reference numeral'l indicates a derrick, such as usually employed in well drilling operations, and the numeral 2 indicates the tubing which is fed to and lowered in the well as the drilling operation proceeds, said tubing and the tools being suspended from a sheave block 3 which'js carried by a cable 4 passing over guiding pulleysat the top of the derrick and wound upon a drum 5 at the lower end of the derrick. The drum is connected with operating mechanism which forms no part of my pres- 1928, Serial a. 259,843.

ent invention and is, therefore, omitted from the drawings to avoid confusion. The drill tube and the tools'are carried more directly by 'a head 6 which is held againstrotation but, of course', is raised and lowered as the drilling operation proceeds. Attached to this head 6 is a cable 7 which extends upwardly from the head to an idler 8 mounted in any convenient manner upon the derrick and then extends downwardly to a point below the floor 9 of the-derrick to be wound upon a drumlO, which drum is mounted in suitable bearings below the floor of, the derrick and at oneside of the line of tubing.

The drum is preferably connected withjts supporting shaft 11 by a'coiled spring so .that

the cable 7 will be" kept under tension at all f times and will be rewound on the drum automatic'ally when the head 6 is lifted and withdrawn to permit additional lengths of tubing to-be attached. Secured upon the cable 7 at suitable intervals are projections 12 which are preferably spherical in form and have a function which will'presently appear.

- The frame which supports the drum includes a pair of standards or side plates 13, between the upper ends of which is arranged a guide pulley 1&1 about which the cable 7 passes so that the different runs of the cable will be maintained in'the proper operative positions.

Mounted in bearing standards 15 spaced from the side plates 13 is a shaft 16 upon which are loosely mounted a lever 17 and a gear wheel 18,, a ratchet wheel 19 being disposed at the side of the gear wheel 18 and fixed relative. thereto.- A pawl 20 pivoted to the lever engages the ratchet 19 'so'that motionwill be imparted intermittently to the ratchet wheel and the gear wheel as will presently appear. The leverl7 extends from the shaft 16 towards the operating cable 7 and its free end is forked, asshown at 21, and carries a shaft 22, a tripping star wheel 23 being fixed to the shaft within the fork- 21 and having the extremities of its several arms notched, as shown at 24, whereby to straddle the 'cable 7 The notches24 are of such diameter that they will permit the cable 7 to pass freely therethrough but the balls or projections 12 cannot passand the extremities of the arms are bent intohook-like form, as shown at 25, so that they will more eflectually engage the projections 12, as shown in Fig. 2. ;Upon one end of'the shaft 22 is secured a stop cam 26 having shoulders, in-

dicated at 27, upon its periphery presented mounted between its ends on the adjacent side of the forked end 21 of the lever and is normally held in engagement with the stop wheel may then impinge cam by a leaf spring 29 secured upon the lever and extending over and bearing upon the'upper side of the dog, as shown. The rear or lower end of the dog is adapted to against a stop block 30 on the adacent side plate 13 as the lever completes its upward movement so that the dog will be released from the stop cam andthe star rotate and permit escape of the projection 12 engaging it. Thejdogmay alsobe caused to actuate a tall y131f which maybe arranged to count thev number of samples taken during any particular period or may be calibrated to record the successive depths at which samples are taken.

The main end member 32 of a trip lever 33 and upon its downward movement will rock said trip lever and cause the same to exert a pull upon a link 34 which is pivoted at its lower end to the lower end' of a crank arm 35 which is hung at its upper end upon the adjacent side plate 13, as shown most clearly in Fig. 2, it being noted that the trip lever 33 is fulcrumed at a point-between its ends upon abracket 36 provided therefor uponthe adjacent side plate. Pivoted to the crank arm 35 between the ends thereof is one end of a connecting rod 37 which extends rearwardlypast the adjacent side plate '13 and has its rear end pivoted to one end of a bell crank 38 which is} mounted upon the side of the launder 39. The opposite end of the bell crank 38 is connected by a link 40 to a crank arm 41 on the outer end of a rock shaft 42 which is mounted in bearings provided therefor upon the end of the launder 43, it being understood that the launder 39 receivesthe material brought from the well and delivers it into the launder 43 from which it is carried to a suitable place of deposit. Normally the space between the launders 39 and 43 is bridged by a deflecting plate 44, as shown in Fig. 4, said deflecting plate being fixed to the rock shaft 42 and being so overbalanced that normally one end will rest upon the floor of the launder 43 and its opposite end will abut the under side of the launder 39. Between the ends of the rock shaft 42, a holding arm 45 is formed-thereon, and this arm is adapted to be engaged by the upturned hook or shoulder 46 on the end of a latch 47 which is pivoted on the bottom of the launder 43 and has its opposite end turned down wardly, as shown at 48. Also pivoted at one end to a bracket 49 on the bottom of the .launder 43 is a release rod 50 which bears against the downturned abutment 48 of the latch and is held against dropping toan inoperative position, by a stop 5] provided apparatus,

lever or rocking arm 17 as it swings upwardly 'will ride past the pivoted therefor on the launder. When the deflecting plate 44 is swung to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 5 in the operation of the the holding arm 45 rides over and into engagement with the shoulder 46 of the latch and is held in this position until the release rod 50 is actuated in a manner to be described.

At one side of the side plates 13 is erected a frame which includes tracks 52, and acarriage 53 is arranged to travel on the tracks 52 the carriage being equipped-with suitable rollers 54, as will be understood. On the under SldB'Df the carriage is a rack 55 with -whichme'sl'ies*a gear 56 which is carried by a shaft 57 extending transversely of the apparatus below the shaft 16 and also having splined thereto a pinion 58 which meshes with the gear wheel: 18 so that, when the gear wheel 18 is actuated, motion will be transmitted to the carriage intermittently and the receptacles placed on the carriage will be fed below the launders transversely thereto. The containers or receptacles are shown at 59 and are placed side by side through the length ofthe carriage. The containersconsist of open top vessels having vertical retaining rods 60 mounted therein at one side of their centers so as to guide a float 61 and hold it close to the adjacent side wall of the vessel so that it will be caused to to move in a vertical rectilinear path and will be maintained out of 'the way of the material directed into the vessel by the deflecting plate 44, as will be understood upon reference to Fig. 5. The float 61 has a tripping bail 62 secured upon and rising from .its upper side and this bail is adapted to impinge'against the free end of the release rod 50 when the Vessel has been filled so that said rod will be swung upwardly and will rock the'latch 47 to release the holding arm '45, whereupon the deflecting plate 44 will return to its normalposition under the influence of gravity. I

It is thought the operation of the apparatus will be readily understood from the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings. The end of the cable 7 moves with the head 6 of the drilling tools and as the drilling operation progresses the end of. said cable willbe drawn to a lower level and this movement will at regular intervals or. such intervals as may be deemed desirable bring one of the projections 12 against the extremity of one arm of the star wheel 23, it being understood that normally the lever or rocking arm 17 with said star wheel lies in a substantially horizontal position with its free end adjacent the drum' 10. The projections 12 may, of course, be spaced equidistantly along the cable 7 or may be set arbitrarily at such intervals as the operator may desire and until one of said projections impinges a ainst an armof the star wheel, the cable W51 merely travel past the main lever or rocking arm. When a projection 12, however, impinges against the free end of an arm of the star wheel, a lifting impulse is imparted to the wheel and inasmuch as the dog 28 holds the wheel against rotation at this-time, the lifting motion is transmitted to the main lever or rocking arm' 17 which then swings upwardly about the 'shaft 16 as a center and Wlll eventually reach-the position shown in Fig- 2. When the arm 17 thus swings upwardly, the pawl 20, of course, imparts motion to the ratchet 19 and this motion is transmitted directly to the gear 18 so that the gear 56 is rotated and the rack bar 55 and carriage 53 actuated. The travel of the carriage will remove from under the deflectin plate 44 a previously filled container an bring into said position an empty container and this movement will be completed just as the rock ing arm reaches the upper limit of it's stroke.

. As the rocking arm reaches the upper limit of its stroke, the rear end of the dog 28 will tion 12'clears the arm or spoke of the star wheel, the support for the main lever or rocking arm is removed .and the lever at once starts its return movement under the infiuence of its own weight. During itsreturn movement, the pawl 20 will ride free over the ratchet 19 and the carriage will remain at rest. As previously stated, on its upward movement the main lever or rocking arm rides past the enchpf the trip lever 33 but on its downward movement it rocks said lever. When the trip lever isrocked, motion is imparted through the described connections 'to the rock shaft 42 which is thereupon rocked and turns the deflecting plate into the position shown in full lines in Fig. 5 so that the material flowing through the launder 39 will "be directed into the vessel 59 immediately therebelow. As the material rises in the vessel 59, the float 61, of course, will be brought to the top of the vessel and the trip bail-62 will be caused toimpinge against the release rod 50 so that the latch 47 will be caused to release the arm 49 and permit the deflecting plate to resume its normal position. The cycle of operations is then repeated as long as the drilling operation continues.

When the carriage has reached the limit of its movement and all the containers thereon have been filled, it may be returned manually to its initial position 'anda fresh supply of containers placed thereon. The pinion 58 is shifted along the shaft 57 out of mesh with the gear 18 to avoid interference with the return ofthe carriage, nd to effect this shifting of the pinion a yo e 65 which bridges the pinion is slidably mounted on a support 66 and equipped with a handle 67 to be operated in an obvious manner. I

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. Means for obtaining samples from a well comprising a plurality of vessels for receiving samples, means for guiding ma,-

terial brought from the well to and over the .vessels, and means controlled by the well drilling operation to direct a portion of the material into a vessel and for feeding the vessels successively to the pointof deliver 2. l eans for obtaining. samples from a well as the well is drilled includin a launder receivin material brought from the well, means for directing said materialbeyond the launder to a place of deposit, and means controlled by the drilling operation for shifting the last-mentioned means whereby to direct a portion of the material into a vessel placed below the same.

3. Means for obtaining samples of material from a well as the well is drilled comprising a: launder receiving the material brought from the well, a second launder arranged to receive the material from the firstmentioned launder, a deflecting plate normally bridging the space between the launders, means controlled by .the drilling operation' for rocking said deflecting plate to direct a portion of the material into a vessel below the plate, and means forholding the deflecting plate in such deflecting position.

4. Means for obtaining samplesof material from a well comprising a. pair of launders, one of said launders receiving material from a well, a deflecting plate pivot- .ally mounted upon one launder and normally bridging the space between the adjacent ends of the launders, means controlled by the drilling operation to ro k said deflecting plate into position to divert material from the launder, a latch mounted upon the same launder as the deflecting plate, an element carried by the deflecting plate to be engaged by said latch whereby to hold the deflecting plate in position to divert mate-' rial from the launder, a vessel disposed below the deflecting plate, a release rod arranged in engagement with the latch. a float in the vessel, and a trip carriedby the float adapted to impinge against the release rod and thereby release the latch to permit the deflecting plate to resume its normal position bridging the ends of the launders.-

5. In a sampling apparatus, the combination of a pair of launders receiving and conveying material brought from a well, a

' within the vessel to release the latch when 'carriage'arranged below and transverse. to the launders, a plurality-"of vessels upon the carriage, a deflecting plate pivotally mounted upon one of the launders and normally bridging the space between the ends of the launders, a latch arranged to hold' the vdefleeting plate in position to direct material from one launder into the vessel, xne'a'gi s the vessel is filled and permitflthe-deflecting plate to resume its normal positi'oI tfa-nd means controlled by-a drilling operation-to efl'ect travel of the carriage whereby to bring an empty vessel under the deflecting plate and then rock the deflecting plate from its normal position.

6. Means for sampling material brought from a well while the well is being drilled comprising a cable attached to the head of the drill tube whereby the cable will be unwound as the drilling proceeds, a rocking arm arranged to be actuated by said cable, means receiving the material brought from the well and directing it to a point of deposit,

and means operated by the rocking arm to bring receiving vessels successively to filling position .and then'diverting material so as to fill the vessel brought to the filling position.

7. In a sampling apparatus, the combinav tion of a main lever mounted for rocking movement in a vertical plane, a normally wound cable extending .across the end of the said lever and havmg one end attached to drilling tools whereby said cable will be unwound as the drilling progresses, projections on the cable adapted to move the lever upwardly, a carriage, means actuated by upward movement of the lever to effect travel of the carriage whereby to bring vessels thereon successively to a filling station, means receiving material from the well and directing it past the filling station, and means actuated by th'edownward movement of the lever to direct material from said means into a yessel below the same on the carriage. v

8. In a sampling apparatus, the combination of alever mounted for rocking movement in a vertical plane, a star wheel pivotally mounted at'the' free end of the lever, a cable attached to a drilling head and passing through the ends of the spokes of the star wheel, projections on said cable adapted to impinge against the spokes 'of the star ,awheel, means for normally restraining the rotation of the star-Wheel, means whereby :the star wheel will be released for rotation 'at the upper limit of the movement of the lever, a carriage, means actuatedby the upof the carriage and bring a vessel thereon to a filling position, and means actuated by the downward movement of the lever to effect filling of the vessel. 9. In a sampling apparatus, the combina tion of a pair of launders receiving and conveying material brought from a well, a defleeting plate normally bridging the adjacent ends of the launders, a lever mounted for rocking movement in a vertical plane, means whereby said lever will be'raised through descent of drilling tools, means operated by the upward movement of the lever to bring a vessel into position below the deflecting plate, a trip lever mounted at one side of the main lever and arranged to yield to upward movement of the main lever but be.

actuated by downward movement thereof,

a rock shaft carrying the deflecting plate, operative connections between the trip lever and the'rock shaft whereby upon downward movement of the main lever the deflecting plate will be rocked to direct material into JONATHAN M. LILLIGREN. [L. 3.]

60 Ward movement of the lever to effect travel a, 

